Héros en tartan Figures romantiques de l'histoire écossaise dans les Salons de la Restauration

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, France is interested in the Scottish tartan as an “outward sign of Scottishness.” Using, as a point of departure, emblematic characters like Mary Stuart, William Wallace, and Bonnie Prince Charlie, and the representation of them, we can trace the more or less explicit significance acquired by plaid outfits (the kilt and coat) as a sign of resistance in a French society that is quite willing to interpret them by turns as a symbol of the Restoration or as a symbol of the fall of Napoleon.